ABSTRACT
In this section, a broad overview of the fast eye movement control system is presented. A fast eye movement is usually referred to as a saccade, and involves quickly moving the eye from one image to another image. This type of eye movement is very common and is observed most easily while reading — when the end of a line is reached the eyes are moved quickly to the beginning of the next line. A qualitative description of the fast eye movement system is given first in the introduction and then followed by a brief description of saccade characteristics. Next, the earliest quantitative saccade model is presented and then followed by more complex and physiologically accurate models. Finally, the saccade generator, or saccade controller is then discussed on the basis of anatomical pathways and control theory. The purpose of this review is focused on mathematical models of the fast eye movement system and its control strategy, rather than on how visual information is processed. The literature on the fast eye movement system is vast, and thus this review is not exhaustive, but rather a representative sample from the field.
